1. Field of Use
This disclosure is directed to an image forming apparatus and an intermediate transfer member.
2. Background
Image-forming apparatuses in which a color or black and white image is formed by using an intermediate transfer member to electrostatically transfer toner are well known. When an image is formed on a sheet of paper in a color image forming apparatus using such an intermediate transfer member, four color images in yellow, magenta, cyan and black respectively are generally first transferred sequentially from an image carrier such as a photoreceptor and superimposed on the intermediate transfer member (the primary transfer). This full color image is then transferred to a sheet of paper in a single step (the secondary transfer). In a black and white image-forming apparatus, a black image is transferred from the photoreceptor and superimposed on an intermediate transfer member, and then transferred to a sheet of paper.
Intermediate Transfer Belts (ITB), designed for toner image transfer for high speed machines, must have and maintain required electrical conductivity. To maintain the required conductivity, conductive components are added into a polymer matrix used to form the intermediate transfer belt. Although various types of electrical conductive materials can be used in ITB, carbon black is the most common conductive component. As filler in an ITB, carbon black addition leads to lower break strength and tear resistance, which can cause cracks leading to failure of the ITB during machine operation. In many cases, carbon black content in ITB could be up to 30% by weight. Higher carbon black loading in ITB results in lower tear resistance in ITB thereby decreasing the lifetime of ITB. For flow coating, the selection of carbon black and polymeric resin is limited due to many process requirements. Therefore, there is a need to achieve required electrical conductivity with reduced electrical conductive filler content to increase the robustness and lifetime of the ITB. In addition, carbon black decreases the transparency of ITBs. This requires the use of reflective sensors in electrophotographic machines. A transmissive ITB would allow the use of transmissive sensors.